TN - I agree with your assessment, and as I am white, heterosexual and middle-class I doubt I have a hope, but there aren't many writers trying to start out at my age, so perhaps being a pensioner counts? :)

They do say age is a state of mind, which can be true on a good day. I have been known to dance when the mood strikes, though only after a glass or two.On a bad day every ache and pain in Chritendom homes in on arthritic joints and it's a struggle to get out of a chair unaided.In my heart, though, I am eternally young - bugger the photos!

Me too. I invariably experience a jolt of shock when I catch a unexpected glimpse of myself. I know that sounds daft but my internal (younger) image of myself is so strong, I frequently forget my chronological age and what I really look like! I'm sure when people see me walking on walls or skipping with Rosie they must wonder, but to me I'm behaving quite normally.

Oh, the horror of seeing yourself unexpectedly when out shopping, in a window or mirror! It's so deflating. Old woman. Frumpy. Scraggy. Or, in a coat, dumpy and scraggy.Even worse? My reflection looking down into an ipad. OMG!!!!!!!!